Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin had the third-highest rent versus buy index at 98.7. The average monthly mortgage payment was $485 and the average monthly rent was $1,008, according to the report. The average home price in the metro area was $175,235.

The company compared total costs of buying and renting in each area for a household earning $100,000 a year. Under the “buy” scenario, SmartAsset.com assumed a mortgage rate of 4.5%, closing costs of $2,000, and a down payment of 20%.

In the report, SmartAsset.com examined a break-even point in making a decision to buy or rent. The break-even point is were total costs of renting become higher than the total costs of buying. In the Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin area, the break-even point was 1.3 years.

In South Carolina, Columbia had the sixth-highest rent versus buy index at 96.1 and a break-even point of 1.5 years. The Charleston-North Charleston index was 89.8, and its break-even point was 1.8 years.